Tributes are being paid to former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) MP Martin Smyth, who has died at the age of 94. He represented South Belfast from 1982 until 2005, and was the grand master of the Orange Lodge between 1972 and 1998, during most of the Troubles.
Retired Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) superintendent Jon Burrows has been co-opted to replace Colin Crawford as the Ulster Unionist Party’s MLA in North Antrim, after he resigned less than a year after being appointed.
Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) MLA for North Antrim, Colin Crawford, has announced he is to resign from his position at Stormont, saying “the time has come for me to step away from politics.” The MLA was at the centre of a row in the UUP after he was chosen to replace Robin Swann.
The deputy leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, Robbie Butler MLA, has said the decision taken by Sinn Fein councillors on Fermanagh and Omagh District Council to silence an Ulster Unionist councillor was “an obvious attempt to silence, intimidate and bully.”
Sinn Fein have seen a drop in support by two points in a recent poll by LucidTalk, but they are still maintaining their lead over the DUP, who are also down one point. The UUP and TUV are the only two parties from the main five to see a rise in support.
A former Ulster Unionist Party councillor, who quit the party after he wasn’t chosen to replace Robin Swann at Stormont, despite being endorsed by then party leader Doug Beattie, has joined the DUP.
Ulster Unionist councillor Darryl Wilson has announced his resignation from the party, but will remain on Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council until the end of his term as an independent, but has said he is “considering various paths for the future”.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson MP has confirmed that his party intend to pull the Stormont Brake mechanism for the first time, after being introduced as part of the Windsor Framework. It is expected to pass with support from all unionist parties in the Assembly.
Colum Eastwood has said he will vote in favour of the Assisted Dying Bill in the House of Commons on Friday – he is the only MP from Northern Ireland who will vote in favour, with every other party voting against.
